Friend: Three years ago today, Donald Trump sat behind his desk and signed presidential directives to begin construction of his border wall.
With a stroke of his pen, he signed away millions of peoples’ safety, dignity, and human rights. He started a horrible humanitarian crisis that he hasn’t solved, one that is still separating families and stoking the hateful, racist rhetoric that defines his administration.
After hearing about the suffering, Tom and I traveled to the border at McAllen, Texas to help where we could. We spent the day at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center. I will never forget those weary young families, spared by a brief hiatus in child separation, worn thin with stress and exhaustion. I bathed a 19 day old baby, born on the arduous trail. These families were fleeing violence, committed to a new life in our country. Yet the Trump administration met them with bigotry and inhumanity. I think about those families still.
This wall was one of Trump’s main campaign agendas — a promise he often used to get his supporters all riled up — and he’s turned it into political leverage. But these are people's lives we’re talking about. These are families, people seeking freedom and protection and a better future. They deserve to be received with open arms.
Thank you,
